Clark’s poke. Then after I take all of his money, I’m going to spend every cent of it on you. What do you think about that?”
“If you’ve got the money, I’ll be your honey,” Cindy replied, and the others around the table, including Clark, laughed.
Clark lost fifteen dollars on the first hand after having folded cautiously with a hand that would have been good enough to win, had he stayed in the game.
Stillwater won the hand, and he cackled as he dragged in the pot.
“If you ain’t got the guts to play the game, you might want to sit out the next hand,” he said to Clark. “You should’ve bet them cards.”
Clark gave up the next hand as well, even though it was strong enough to have at least bet the first round.
“Damn,” Stillwater said as he raked in his winnings. “Dodd don’t need to come up with no more jobs. Not as long as I can win money from you.”
This time, Stillwater got a laugh.
Clark was down thirty dollars by the third hand, but there was over sixty dollars in the pot, and he had drawn two cards to complete a full house. When the bet came to him, he put his hand on the money, pushed it out, then drew it back, thought about it for a moment, then pushed it back out.
“What? You mean you are going to bet this time?” Stillwater teased. “Better be careful now, you might want to think about that. You don’t want to get too brave. I’ll see your five, and raise you five.”
Clark studied his hand for a long moment before, and with some hesitation, he called.
“All right, Clark, let’s see your cards,” Stillwater said. Stillwater was holding three jacks, and he laughed when he saw Clark’s hand.
“You were holding a full house and you didn’t raise?”
“You might’ve had a stronger hand. I like to be certain about things. And as you can see, prudence was a good choice,” Clark said as he raked in the pot. “I am now forty dollars ahead.”
“You don’t know much about cards, do you?” Stillwater said. “Hell, iffen I’d had that hand, I would’a won eighty, maybe a hunnert dollars with it.”
“But, you didn’t have that hand, did you?” Clark asked.
“Tell you what, kid. Why don’t I just show you what this game is all about. I’ve been layin’ off you a bit because I can see that you don’t have no idea at all about playin’ cards. Well, I’m about to teach you how to play, and it’s goin’ to cost you some money.”
“You mean you want me to pay you for lessons?” Clark asked.
“You don’t have to pay me. I’ll just take the money from you, and that’ll be lesson enough for you,” Stillwater said. “All you got to do is pay attention while you’re losin'. I’m going to take every dollar you have, and spend it all on Cindy.”
“Oh, well, then Cindy can’t lose, can she?” Clark said.
“What are you? Some kind of a wise guy?” Stillwater asked.
Though Clark gave no outward sign, inwardly he smiled. Stillwater was extremely agitated now, and the more agitated he became, the more injudicious would be his decisions. This was going to be an interesting game.
“I’m going to ante the limit this time,” Clark said hesitantly. He put his hand on the money and held it for a moment, as if thinking about it, then, with a sigh, pushed the money forward. “Ten dollars.”
“Oh, ten dollars?” Stillwater said. “That’s a little steep for you, ain’t it?”
“Not too bad. I’m forty dollars ahead, so I’m not actually betting with my own money,” Clark replied.
“Ahh, not betting with your own money. That’s just real smart now. I tell you what. How about we up the ante a little?”
“Up the ante?”
“Sure, why not? Like you say, you aren’t playing with your own money. What will it hurt if you lose a little?”
“I don’t know. If we raise the ante, it wouldn’t take too long before I would be playing with my own money again.”
“So what you are saying is, you are afraid to raise the ante.”
“I wouldn’t say I am afraid.”
“You wouldn’t, eh? What would you say?” Stillwater teased.
“I think I would rather say that I am cautious,” Clark replied.
Stillwater laughed. “Did you hear that, boys? I say he’s afraid, but he says he’s cautious.”
The others around the table laughed.
“What do you say, Cindy? Is he cautious? Or is he afraid?”
“Jules, why don’t you quit picking on him?” Cindy asked.
“No, I ain’t goin’ to quit pickin’ on him,” Stillwater said. “He sat down to play a man’s game with men, so let him be a man. Now what do you say, boy? Are you going raise the ante? Or are you too scared?”
“I suppose I’ll go along with raising the ante,” Clark said, continuing the illusion that he was not real
